Opening Night
7–10 PMThe official kick-off event of NYABF 2026 celebrates this milestone anniversary year and is the first opportunity to get access to the Fair! The celebratory evening features musical performances from SHYBOI and A.B.E.L.A.
In gratitude for supporting this nonprofit event, the first 500 ticketed guests receive a limited-edition artwork by Sara Yukiko. Opening Night tickets also include unlimited re-entry throughout the Fair weekend.
SHYBOI (DJ Set)
SHYBOI is a Jamaican born, New York based multidisciplinary artist, researcher, DJ and producer that seeks to find discordian harmony through sonic exploration. As a creative positioned between Caribbean and American culture, she uses sound to interrogate ideas of identity, notions of power, perceived histories and the entanglements that happen within these topics. Since 2013 they’ve been a mainstay in NYC’s ever evolving underground landscape and have contributed to both the global art and dance music scenes, with mixes for Crack Magazine, Fader, MixMag, NTS, Resident Advisor, Rinse FM, Truants and Thump. All this plays out in SHYBOI's sets heard around the world, from a 3 year residency at NYC’s Nowadays, to forward thinking festivals including Atonal, Draaimolen, Dweller, Dripping, Glastonbury, Hyperreality, Lost Music, Mona Foma, Sonic Acts, Sonar, Sustain-Release, Unsound, Nature Loves Courage and Nyege Nyege. Their innate ability to juxtapose and recontextualize electronic genres and their sonic histories has allowed them to perform throughout Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. SHYBOI has four Boiler Room sets under her ever widening belt, as well as two performances at MoMA PS1’s Warm Up and sold out shows at the Guggenheim and The Shed. Original productions have appeared on compilations via labels including Allergy Season, E-Missions and Nervous Records. Her self-released debut EP “Rave Down Babylon” was hailed for its ability to “evoke the halcyon moments of Brooklyn's Labor Day parade, pairing it with the charged-up euphoria of Brooklyn techno.”
A.B.E.L.A. (Live)
A.B.E.L.A. (Asociación de Bateristas Electrónicos de Latinoamérica), also known as “The Union,” is a collective of Latin American percussionists exploring the intersection of electronic instrumentation and ancestral rhythms from across the Global South. With more than 12 rotating members, no two performances are the same—each show features a different lineup shaped by live improvisation and collective exchange. Rooted in tradition yet forward-facing in sound, A.B.E.L.A.’s performances move fluidly between ancient rhythmic languages and contemporary electronic pulses, creating a dynamic, ever-evolving experience that brings deep rhythmic memory into the present-day NYC soundscape.
Opening Night Tickets